100₫, 200₫, 500₫, 1,000₫, 2,000₫, 5,000₫ (these first six are old issue, but still in circulation), 10,000₫, 20,000₫, 50,000₫, 100,000₫, 200,000₫, 500,000₫

The đồng (/ˈdɒŋ/; Vietnamese: [ɗôŋm]) (sign: ₫; code: VND) has been the currency of Vietnam since May 3, 1978. Issued by the State Bank of Vietnam, it is represented by the symbol "₫". Formerly, it was subdivided into 10 hào, which was further subdivided into 10 xu, neither of which is now used.

The word đồng is from the term đồng tiền ("money"), a cognate of the Chinese tóng qián (Traditional Chinese: 銅錢; Simplified Chinese: 铜钱). The term refers to Chinese bronze coins used as currency during the dynastic periods of China and Vietnam. The term hào is a cognate of the Chinese háo (Chinese: 毫), meaning a tenth of a currency unit.

In 1946, the Viet Minh government (later to become the government of North Vietnam) introduced its own currency, the đồng, to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par. Two revaluations followed, in 1951 and 1958; the first was at a rate of 100:1, the second at a rate of 1000:1.

Notes dually denominated in piastres and đồng were issued in 1953 for the State of Vietnam, which evolved into South Vietnam in 1954. On September 22, 1975, after the fall of Saigon, the currency in South Vietnam was changed to a "liberation đong" worth 500 old Southern đồng.

In 1978, aluminium coins (dated 1976), were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, and 5 hào and 1 đồng. The coins were minted by the Berlin mint in the German Democratic Republic and bear the state crest on the obverse and denomination on the reverse. Due to chronic inflation, these coins lost all their relevant value and no coins circulated for many years after this series.

The State Bank of Vietnam resumed issuing coins on December 17, 2003.[3] The new coins, minted by the Mint of Finland, were in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 đồng in either nickel clad steel or brass clad steel. Earlier, Vietnamese had to exchange banknotes for tokens with a clerk before purchasing goods from vending machines. This was also to help the state ease the cost of producing large quantities of small notes which tended to wear hard. Many residents expressed excitement at seeing coins reappear after many years, as well as concern for the limited usefulness of the 200 đồng coins due to ongoing inflationary pressures.[4] There had been rumors of coins being mistaken for candies by children and as fakes by some vendors since coins had long been absent from use in Vietnam, these reports have been difficult to verify.

Since the launch of the 2003 coin series the State Bank has had some difficulties with making the acceptance of coins universal despite the partial discontinuation of smaller notes, to the point of some banks refusing coin cash deposits or the cashing in of large amounts of coins. This has prompted laws requiring private and municipal banks to transact and offer services for coins and the full discontinuation of small denomination and cotton based notes.

In 1978, the State Bank of Vietnam (Ngân hàng Nhà nước Việt Nam) introduced notes in denominations of 5 hào, 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 đồng dated 1976. In 1980, 2 and 10 đồng notes were added, followed by 30 and 100 đồng notes in 1981. These notes were discontinued in 1985 as they gradually lost value due to inflation and economic instability.

In 1985, notes were introduced in denominations of 5 hào, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100, and 500 đồng. As inflation became endemic, these first banknotes were followed by 200, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 đồng notes in 1987, by 10,000 and 50,000 đồng notes in 1990, by a 20,000 đồng note in 1991, a 100,000 đồng note in 1994, a 500,000 đồng note in 2003, and a 200,000 đồng note in 2006. Banknotes with denominations of 5,000 đồng and under have been discontinued from production and have been progressively withdrawn from circulation.[citation needed]

Five banknote series have appeared. Except for the current series, dated 2003, all were confusing to the user and lacked unified themes and coordination in their designs. The first table below shows the latest banknotes, of 100 đồng or higher, prior to the current series. On June 7, 2007, the government ordered cessation of the issuance of the cotton 50,000 and 100,000₫ notes.[citation needed] They were taken out of circulation by September 1, 2007. State Bank of Vietnam 10,000 and 20,000₫ cotton notes are no longer in circulation as of January 1, 2013[citation needed].

Since 2003, Vietnam has replaced its cotton banknotes with plastic polymer banknotes, which it claims will reduce costs.[11] Many newspapers in the country criticized these changes, citing mistakes in printing and alleging that the son of the governor of the State Bank of Vietnam benefited from printing contracts.[11] The government clamped down on these criticisms by banning two newspapers from publishing for a month and considering other sanctions against other newspapers.

A commemorative polymer 50-đồng banknote dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of the State Bank of Vietnam was issued in 2001, but its face value is so tiny that it clearly was meant only for collectors. The note usually comes in a presentation folder.

To support growing industrial need for large money transactions, the State Bank issued "Bearer's Checks" or "State Bank Settlement Checks" (Ngân Phiếu Thanh Toán) in denominations from 100,000 to 5,000,000 đồng.[19] To prevent counterfeiting, these notes had many degrees of protection, their designs were changed every five to six months, and they had expiration dates five or six months after the date of issue. The checks worked until the banking system was upgraded to handle electronic transfers of large amounts of đồng, making most large cash transactions unnecessary.

In the Vietnamese language, "đồng" can be used as a generic term for any currency by adding the name of a country as a qualifier. This practice is more common for more esoteric units of currency.

In some Vietnamese-speaking communities, notably in America, it is used to denote the local currency (United States dollars), and one must refer to Vietnamese đồng as đồng Việt Nam ("Vietnamese đồng"). Similarly, hào and xu are occasionally used to translate the American "dime" and "cent", respectively, into Vietnamese.

In present-day Vietnam, because the value of the currency is so small, one đồng could also be understood as one thousand đồng.[citation needed]

Preceded by:Moneyless economyReason: Vietnamese invasion of CambodiaNote: It is unclear whether the North, the South đồng, or nothing at all was used after the invasion in January 1980 and before the issuance of a united đồng in May

Currency of Cambodia
1978 – 1980Concurrent with:Thai baht and some other foreign currencies, to some extent